Since the Russian billionare Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003,money
football started his dominance in England, even the whole European continent.Not
only Chelsea, Manchester City, but also Paris Saint Germain, Monaco FC , Malaga.
In 2010,the Evergrande started fund Guangdong football club, and in the past 4
years they won the all of 4 titles of CSL(China Football Association Super
League),and AFC Champions League in 2013.
Actually, not only for now, in the period of the 20-year professional league, money dominate all the time.
20 years ago, Dalian Wanda got the champion for the very first time. They were the Evergrande for that time when they had the best manager and players in China.The staff of Wanda Club were highest paid while the club could invest 2 million RMB on the transaction for one player. The boss gave out the bonus just on the court by cash instead of cheque or transfer money to accounts.
Evergrande, as a newcomer, just duplicated Wanda when they just soared. They hired Lippi to be their manager, and attracted almost all the best players in China with money and potential to win titles. No investment,no gain. It is the truth in China football right now.
However, money could not buy everything.For the Evergrande, they are still enlarging their club with money. But behind the prosperity and foam they produced, people could always see that the Evergrande ranked the last in the Reserve League ,and the downturn in China football market, and the China National Team sees no progress for these years.
When Lippi, the Italian coach who won the World Cup in 2006,comment on Chinese football, He remarked that to make the famous players play in China is never the best way to boost the level of Chinese football. Only by promoting football, particularly in youth, and building up a system which is able to nurture more and more young players, we would create a brilliant future for Chinese football.
Without a healthy market, the support from fans and the popularity, how long can money football still survive in China?